The disproportionate number of Native Hawaiian children in foster care is a problem that’s rooted in poverty and social inequities that require generational change to address fully.
But there’s anecdotal evidence of a means to heal the hurt for at least the families that culturally tailored programs are able to reach. While not a panacea for the deep socioeconomic rifts that underlie the crisis, these efforts should be amplified and expanded, through interventions that come as early in the child’s life as possible.
Of the roughly 2,300 children in the state’s foster care system, half are of Hawaiian ancestry, whereas only a third of the children’s population statewide have Hawaiian blood.
That sobering statistic was the launchpad for a two-part report by Star-Advertiser writer Rob Perez, which traced both the scope of the problem and the successes of effective, if underresourced, outreach programs.
Many families in the foster care program, managed by the state Department of Human Services, believe “the system” is biased against them. That perception shouldn’t be dismissed unexamined.
As Perez reported, many Hawaiian families are poor and come into contact with workers — delivering Medicaid, food stamps and other services — more often than others. These staffers, required to report signs of abuse or neglect, have more opportunities to observe problems in this demographic than among wealthier families who can access counseling and other resources to stay out of the system. Without a doubt, social workers need to remain cognizant of any such disparity in the way they approach their cases.
However, it’s more likely that the issue is not simple bias. Negative social outcomes are also manifested in high adult incarceration and juvenile arrest rates and lower education and employment levels, so the problem is plainly complex.
Reversing all of that will take a concerted, long-term emphasis on early education and job training to put the population on a healthier path, one that steers clear of drugs and alcohol dependency or other ills destructive to family life.
But in the meantime, the incremental progress achieved by programs that use Hawaiian cultural practices and values is something to celebrate — and replicate.
Among these programs, which generally aim to strengthen family bonds through encounters that build on Hawaiian reconciliation and healing methods, is Wahi Kana‘aho. The established mediation process of hooponopono is at its heart, enabling troubled youths to meet privately with their parents, guardians and other loved ones.
More research is needed, and evaluation tools are in development — Wahi Kana‘aho is working with the University of Hawaii College of Social Science, for example. These methods have history and have earned praise anecdotally but still need to build a track record that will attract the funding support they need to be sustained.
Another encouraging program using cultural practices: Ke Kama Pono, a residential safe house in Kalaeloa for teen offenders; it’s run by Partners in Development Foundation. The recidivism rate for its teens, tracked for three years after leaving the program, is 37 percent. That’s far below the 75 percent recidivism of juveniles released from the Hawaii Youth Correctional Facility between 2005 and 2007.
Wahi Kana‘aho received $441,000 from the DHS Office of Youth Services to fund 17 months of operations. The Office of Hawaiian Affairs also contributed $200,000. Although the programs serve a range of ethnic groups, the Hawaiian focus suggests that they could use even more robust support from OHA.
Reversing the dismal downward spiral of these children should be an even higher priority for OHA, Kamehameha Schools and other entities serving Hawaiians. They are forward-looking programs, and changing futures for children dealing with a difficult past is the right strategy that public and private partners should adopt.
